Fortress of Narzod
Gameplay The player controls a hovercraft on its ascent up a mountain range with the goal of reaching the fortress at its summit. Each screen is part of a roadway, which is defended by three waves of guardians. These waves of guardians consist first of the Doomgrabbers, then the Tarantulas and finally the Ghouls. Each wave makes its descent down the roadway and towards the player, which all of one wave needs to be destroyed before the next wave begins its descent. Contact with enemies or the Spikers which are randomly released from the Doomgrabbers will result in the loss of a life. The player's own fire has the ability to ricochet off the walls of the roadway. This not only has the benefit of creating angles, which the player may destroy the enemies without them being able to return fire, but can also be a disadvantage due to the ability for the shot to return and destroy the player's ship. After three waves, the player is allowed to move up the screen and to the next roadway. Each roadway has the same enemies, although in increasing numbers. With the second roadway comes the addition of the Warbirds, who fly over the entire mountain and are able to fire at the player in the third roadway. Once three roadways have been completed, the player faces the Mystic Hurler, who defends the fortress itself. The Mystic Hurler throws Spikers, which split in two. It takes six hits to defeat him before the player starts at the bottom of the mountain again. Controls Main Menu *Choose between one or two players-button one *Choose level of difficulty-button two *Start game-button four In-game *Move ship forward, backward or from side-to-side-joystick or D-pad *Fire-button four Scoring * Destroy Doomgrabber-10 points * Destroy Tarantula-10 points * Destroy Ghoul-10 points * Destroy Warbird-100 points * Destroy Mystic Hurler-10 points (And a bonus hovercraft) * Destroy Standard Spiker- 50 points * Destroy Split Spiker-100 points Trivia * Fortress of Narzord was not released in Japan for the Bandai version of the Vectrex Kousokusen. * There is a cheat which gives the player unlimited lives. When battling the Mystic Hurler on the player's last life, the Hurler must be hit five times, then the last shot should be timed so that both the player and the Hurler die at the same time. Links/review Click on the tabber below for a review. tab1= |-| Review= vectrex.nl Narzod might be the most addictive Vectrex game. The detail in this game shows what Vectrex programmers were able to achieve in the latter 1980's years of Vectrex game design and coding. Again, a very original game which puts you in the shoes of a the 'only remaining honourable wizard',in a time when magic reigned and all souls possessed special magical powers and battled for rule of the earth. Little accessible background information was easy to come by for this shooter which is like a cross between Galaga and sought of a Sci Fi. other worldly Pinball game. The pinball element comes from the wizards' hover craft's ability to shoot bullets which ricochet off the side walls of each of the lower, middle and upper roadways, which are the stomping ground for the enemy wizard's henchmen. The lower roadway sees firstly 'Doomgrabbers' then later 'Tarantulas' and 'Ghouls' pitting their evil 'Spikers' against you in order the protect the evil wizard's fortress. Once the player has progressed through the first stage, where the hover craft exits through a hidden passage, the backdrop is reversed and Narzod's men become more vicious through shear speed and deadlier accuracy. In the latter roadways 'Warbirds' appear which can be used as a shield once you have downed them but the player must be wary as their Spikers may split in two and make it ever so hard avoid them. Once the upper roadway has been successfully transcended the 'Mystic Hurler' appears and his skill far surpasses that of even the warbirds. I've yet to pass him! Fortress of Narzod goes for anywhere from $40.U.S. to $80.U.S. on ebay and is considered one of the rarer titles. Cool. Score 8/10 Review written by Daniel Foot Category: Shooter Category: Vectrex games Category:Reviews